Summer love
by White-eyes-and-nightmares
Summary: Summer camp AU. Lance wants to fall in love before summer camp is over. Keith wants to find out why Shiro sent him to a summer camp. Pidge wants to get through the camp and make friends along the way. How will things work out? Please read! Descriptions are hard! Gimme a chance!
1. A story i never thought I'd see

Oh dear goodness don't hate for the ships.. Basically, all the paladins in the story are aged so that they are the around the Same age.

Keith- 16

Lance-16

Pidge/Katie-15

Hunk-16

Allura-17

Shiro-age not changed

So this is a summer camp au, that came to me in a dream. I figured I should write it cause, why not? Shiro will play a small part in this story, and the main focus will be lance, Pidge/Katie and Keith.

Hunk and allura will be minor characters. Also, Ashla is human Axca, all of the people are human so I thought her name was a bit too alien!

Enjoy reading this!

Love. Portrayed in movies, books, and much more, Love seems visible at every turn. In truth, its not. People can like some one, but you have to learn who they are to love them. You have to know them at their worst to see them at their best.

Summer camp was exiting for lance, especially this year. He was determined to find a sweet summer love before the camp was over. That was his one and only goal. He had been watching movies, reading books, playing music, anything he could get his hands on. He wanted the perfect summer romance. He practically jumped out of the car just to get into the camp. He made sure to choose a camp this year that none of his siblings chose, so he could get away without them watching him 24/7. He had made that mistake last year, and oh did he pay for it. The camp he so happened to choose, was Adventure summer camp.

Sounds dumb, doesn't it? Katie didn't want to go. She honestly would have rather stayed home, hung out with matt before he left for college, worked on machinery. Her parents were making her go to this stupid camp, and she hated it. Katie looked out the window of the car, noticing they arrived. Stepping out of the cool air conditioning, she made her way to her trunk to gather her things. Adventure summer camp? More like a reason for her to socialize.

In truth, Keith had only gone because he promised Shiro he would. Shiro had really pushed for him to go here, Keith really didn't know why. He knew Shiro had gone himself when he was 17, but always said it was just a normal camp. Keith would much rather be home than here. Long distance relationships never work do they? Did this mean Ashla wouldn't be there for him when he gets back? He didn't like not knowing. He wasn't sure why he agreed to go.

After they were dropped off one by one, they all watched their rides fade from view. Pidge arrived first, having left earlier to get on time. Lance arrived second, a few minutes before the time the entrance party. Keith arrived fifteen minutes late, because they lived further away then the others, and that Shiro can't navigate to save his life.

When pidge saw her roommates side of the tent, she inwardly groaned. It was covered in cute stuff and plush animals. Pidge sighed and set down her bag. She had brought more little projects than clothes, much against her mothers recommendations.

When she had finished setting up her side, it was messy looking, to anyone else. Pidge was actually proud of herself. It looked better than her room at home.

She went to the ceremony, or whatever it was supposed to be.. She was given a time and place, not an explanation. When she entered the main hall, she found that about a hundred people her age were gathered there. She slipped quietly to the back of the room, to an almost empty row. Only a few seats remained. Pidge wondered if every seat was filled, or they had a few empty ones. Pidge was still a little early, so she took out her sketchbook and started making blueprints for a machine she had an idea for on the car ride. The chatter of all the people soon became invisible to her ears, and she didn't even notice the kid come right up to her and sit.

"Cool drawing, What is it?"

Pidge jumped so high her glasses became crooked, and a hand quickly flew up to fix them. Her face snapped back to her page, without looking at the person talking to her.

"A battery powered fan for my tent. Its-uh- hot." she didn't want to talk about the fact that she sweats a lot.

"Oh! Cool! You should make me one too!"

"Look," pidge closed her book, and brushed her hair out of her face. " I don't know. " she looked over to see a tan-skinned boy with short brown hair and blue eyes.

"Pleeeaaassseeeeee? Please?" he squealed, making people near them turn to look.

Pidge was flustered by the sudden attention, but did her best to focus on the conversation.

"I-I don't even know if I have enough materials.."

"Pleaseeeeeeeee!" he almost jumped from his seat to land on the floor with his knees pressed into the cold tile. "I won't leave you alone until you make me one!"

"Fine." she put her book back into her bag. "My name is Pidge"

A look of absolute wonder flashed across his face before it was replaced with a huge smile " The names Lance!"

It almost looked as if he was about to say something else, but the lights dimmed and the owner came out to greet this years campers.

"Hello everyone! Today is the first day of camp for you all, and I do hope you enjoy! If you have any questions, need any help, or find yourself in trouble, never hesitate to ask one of our amazingly qualified staff members. If you haven't already, you should find your tent and leave your belongings there, you can find your tent number on your information packets-" he went on for another fifteen minutes.

When they left the building, they were all directed back to their tents. Everyone had the chance to meet their roommates, and finish unpacking.

Pidge was nervous to meet her roommate, because she tended to dislike people that had rooms like that. She stepped inside to find her tent empty. She let out a breath of relief, and sat down on her cot. After a while, her roommate entered. A tan skinned girl with insanely long silver hair stepped in, and she looked like a fresh shining star despite the humid heat.

" Hi! I'm Allura! Its so nice to meet-" her soft accented voice was cut short once she got sight of pidge messy side of the room. " its nice to meet you." she continued. Pidge stood up, almost regretting it because of the differences in their height.

" Nice to meet you too! My name is Pidge. Sorry my room is so messy" normally, pidge doesn't care about what other people think, but since she was going to share this space with this person for a few months, she wanted to make a good impression.

They talked for a little while, but it was mostly just small talk. After an hour or so, they both went out to the dining hall for dinner. The food wasnt the best, but it wasnt inedible. They had cartons of chocolate milk, which both girls grabbed a few for each of themselves. During dinner, Lance appeared and drank one of Pidges milks. They all chatted and talked about basic things, Allura seemed to dislike lance in some weird way that Pidge didn't know about.

After dark, they had a big bonfire and most of the campers came to roast marshmallows. People sat around in groups and told scary stories, gossiped, and joked. Pidge improved her blueprints by the warm light of the fire. Lance dropped in to check on pidge, seeing she was working on her blueprints.

" Hey Pidge! I have something you need to see!"

She looked up, seeing lance across the fire. He had a smores in his hand, and he looked like he didn't have a worry in the world.

"If its about that fan don't worry about it."

" follow me!" his voice was lighthearted. He looked effortlessly happy. Pidge grumbled as she stood up and stretched, her back was tense from sitting hunched over her drawing.

Pidge begrudgingly followed Lance, who was practically skipping, away from the fire and towards the old jungle gym. Eventually, lance ran up and climbed to the top of the bars. Pidge picked up her pace, joining lance at the top.

The metal was still warm from the heat earlier that day, and pidge sat next to lance, wondering what he wanted to show her.

"So... What is it?"

" I'm surprised you haven't noticed. Although, I shouldn't be. You're always looking down.. Whether its at your sketchpad, or when youre talking to someone.. You should look up a little more.. Sometimes, you can see the world in a better way"

Pidge took her glasses off and risked a glance at him, too see him staring straight up. She followed his gaze, to see a billion bright stars above. Thousands- no _billions_ of twinkling stars shone above them. The smoke from the fire in the near distance dissipated into thin air, and the line of the trees swayed with the cool breeze. If you thought there was an empty spot, you could stare at it long enough to see dimmer stars. It was the most beautiful thing pidge had ever seen.

" Thank you.."

* * *

All is not as it seems.

Tell me what you think, I really hope you will.

-Ace


	2. Under the stars

"Is it a right or a left at the stop sign up here?!"

"THAT'S A ROUNDABOUT!"

"Do you want to me to turn this car around?"

Shiro, was terrible at driving. Despite Keith's protests, Shiro was his only available ride. Keith had asked Ashla's parents, but they were busy, and he didn't have the money to pay for an uber. A small vibrate came from Shiro's phone, alerting the pair of the low battery. The map app they had used drained it.

Shiro was driving at the speed limit, sometimes even a little under that. Keith grabbed his phone and checked if there was a text from Ashla. Unfortunately, he didn't have any bars. How was Shiro getting any? His phone was way nicer than Keith's, but they were in the middle of nowhere. Keith sighed in defeat and shoved his phone into his bag. He'd have to see if there was data at the camp.

After another half-hour or so, Keith and Shiro arrived at the front gates

" Aw, man its been so long.. Those were they days.." he spoke like he was an old man reminiscing over his youth.

"Bye, I'll see you later." Keith was never the kind of person for sappy goodbyes. He grabbed the backpack by his feet and trudged around the gravel to grab his carry-on bag in the back seat. After he closed the door, he went over to the drivers-side and gave Shiro an awkward hug through the window. After about a hundred 'be safes' and 'don't cause trouble or start any fights' from Shiro, he set off to venture the camp.

As it turns out, he was late for something. They wouldn't let him inside the main hall, so he was directed to his tent by a staff member. Keith put his large bag under his cot and his backpack at the foot of it. He left everything in his bags, after all, he only brought nessecities and the things Shiro forced him to bring. His roommates side was pretty empty. Keith checked his phone, only to find out there was a Wifi network, but it was password protected. He dropped his phone onto the cot next to him, and left his tent in frustration.

As he did, he saw the main hall open, and a huge crowd poured out. Staff members were flocked to by people with pamphlets, papers, and tons of questions. He caught sight of a few people in the flurry, a tall girl with long silver hair, being hit on by a guy that looked a little too happy. There was a short kid that almost looked like they didn't belong there, because they were shorter than anyone in sight. There was also a tall, thin girl with long ginger hair pulled into a ponytail, and a big girl walking next to her.

So many different kinds of people went to this camp, Keith wondered why Shiro would send him here of all places. Keith went off towards the trees, so he could get away from the huge crowd. He heard staff members shout above the chatter for everyone to find their respective tents, so he went back to his.

When he returned he found that his roommate was inside, and he was a big dude with a ton of stuff. He introduced himself as Hunk, and continued to talk at Keith as he unpacked. Keith thought Hunk seemed nice, but was a little too talkative.

"So what are your favorite foods? I love my moms cooking, especially her baked macaroni and cheese, its so gooey and amazing! I want to learn how to cook it but she says I have to learn how to cook a little more for her to teach me. Do you know how to cook? Cause I've been learning how to for a while, and -"

Keith noticed a pattern of Hunk asking Keith a question, and then continuing to talk without giving him a chance to answer. Keith found that he really didn't mind it. Hunk seemed like a passionate guy, and he was honest, too. Keith listened to him talk, but he didn't feel pressured to answer. It was nice, and Keith already enjoyed spending time with the guy.

After a while, Hunk said he was hungry and left to go find dinner. Keith followed at a much slower pace, watching others leave their tents in search of sustenance. Keith found the dining hall and got his food, which wasnt great, but better than takeout.

Keith sat and ate alone, watching campers make friends with eachother. When he was done eating, he had overheard people talking about a fire. He went outside, and sure enough, there were people trying to set fire to a huge pile of sticks and logs. Keith sat and watched, not wanting to interfere.

When the fire was well on its way, there was many people by the fire, and lots of people talking. Keith had tried to make a marshmallow, but set it on fire instead. It melted off the stick he had. He was sad. He threw his stick into the fire to keep it lit, but went back to his tent and fell asleep.

* * *

Lance sat next to pidge, contemplating on using a pick up line.

 _You shine brighter than all of these stars combined_

No.

 _You must have come from there, cause your beauty is alien_

Does that even make sense?

His thoughts were interrupted by her.

"Thank you.."

He stared at her in complete astonishment. She had taken off her glasses and set them down in her lap. Her hair fell softly around her cheeks as she stared at the sky in absolute awe. She had little freckles sprinkled across her cheeks, and her honey eyes reflected the billions of flickering stars above. She was beautiful.

" I'd always sit on the roof of my house with my brother and look at the stars, but they're all different here.. Its...incredible..."

Even though they were just sitting on the monkey bars on the jungle gym, even though they were only a few feet from the ground, Lance was atop the world. He curled his lips into a big goofy smile and jumped down from the bars. She watched as he did so, and laughed when he landed badly, causing him to sprawl out onto the mulch in a way the surely couldn't be comfterable. Pidge got down by hanging herself off the edge and falling. She lent him a hand.

" just drag me.." he said playfully, yet sounding tired.

Pidge did her best, but could only move him a few inches before crashing down next to him.

They sat there for a little while and talked about constellations.

Lance only knew the big and little dipper, but pidge pointed out Ursa major and minor, showed him polaris, and many others. Eventually, lance started making his own up, including dying cat, crappy alarm clock and deformed dragon. They heard the camp counselors call everyone back to their tents and they parted ways.

Lance had slept amazing that night. His roommate was some dude with a crazy accent named Sven. They pretty much left eachother alone.

Pidge had stayed up hacking the Wifi network, and had started doing an inventory for the fans she was gonna make.

Keith had gone to sleep early, and woke up in the middle of the night due to a nightmare. Otherwise, he was the first person awake in the morning.

The sun had risen at 6:00 that morning, and a loud horn signaled the start of a new day. Campers stirred from their sleep and headed towards breakfast. Counselors set up the tasks and adventures for the day. People learned the routine they were expected to follow. The world turned slowly into the future, and as the nights stars faded from view, Love was on the horizon.

* * *

Super cheesy ending Lol

Also yes, Ezor and Zethrid are here. Are they here to cause trouble? No, I just wanted to add them in.

Sven is lances roommate because I figured why not? Like I said, All is not as it seems. Life doesn't always work out the way it does in movies. Lance needs to learn that, and Keith might need to learn that it does. I hope you continue to read, and continue to enjoy this.

Have a wonderful day, -Ace


	3. Painting a story

Hi! Sorry, it's been so long I haven't felt very inspired lately. I hope you enjoy!

* * *

Pidge was most likely the last one to wake up, only because she stayed up so late hacking the WiFi and working on the fans. When she did wake up, she was immediately captivated by thoughts of what transpired the previous night. She hated the way she had acted, and yet... what if she didn't?

The boy she had met last night had been so kind to her. At her school, nobody spoke to her unless they needed homework done for money or had a group project with her. It was a lonely life, no doubt, but she really didn't mind. She'd prefer to spend time with her robots or with Matt instead. Living her life alone was something she had considered and accepted. She wasn't afraid to say that. But... when she was hanging out with Lance... she was almost ready to rethink everything. She had been so sure of her life and how it might play out, but now she was left in the dark with doubt.

She lazily dressed and brushed her hair, It's not like she puts much effort in how she looks most of the time anyways... Allura was brushing her long hair and was working on wrapping it into a neat bun. Pidge put her glasses on as usual and left Allura to fawn over her hair.

Breakfast was served in an all you can eat buffet style, where campers walked up and took whatever they wanted from the pans and put it on their plates. Pidge grabbed an orange and some cookies that looked almost stale. Finding a seat far off in the corner at an empty table, She ate and began to take apart an old malfunctioning piece that she brought along for scrap. It was bent in an odd way, and the wires had too much length and got somehow tangled. She didn't need it anymore, so she dismantled it and used mini pliers to shape the metal back into place. She had just about finished getting the last dent from the metallic surface when Lance showed up from nowhere, taking her last cookie.

"Hey! That was the last one I had! Give it back!"

"No can do!" he said gleefully before taking a bite. He realized his mistake, almost spitting out (luckily he didn't) the stale cookie.

"Pidge! This is nasty how were you eating this!?"

" It isn't bad... The texture is bad because it's so hard but otherwise, the flavor isn't affected"

He looked absolutely astonished by the fact that she wasn't bothered by the staleness of the cookie. He was trying to splutter out words that didn't quite make sense, but he couldn't form a coherent sentence. Instead of listening to him attempt to argue, she changed the subject.

"Also, it looks like you're in luck! I should have just enough metal and mechanisms to make two small fans. The only question is... Can you do me a favor? I want to paint the fans, but I didn't bring any paint with me... Can you steal green and blue paint from the Staffroom? I don't know how much I need and-"

" Yes!" Lance said with an incredibly eager and overexcited face. He quickly stood up and marched out of the dining hall, earning a little chuckle from Pidge.

" If he acts like that the whole time, he's going to get caught.."

* * *

Keith was the first one up. He had fallen asleep early that night, and despite the fact that he woke in the middle of the night due to a nightmare, he was very well rested. he grabbed an apple from the food-bar-breakfast-thingy and sat at an almost empty table, where two girls sat giggling on the far end from Keith.

Keith observed the cafeteria as it filled up with sleepy campers and caffeine-fueled counselors. He pondered on why Shiro brought him here. He decided to find somewhere else to go because more people had just arrived and he didn't want to be there anymore.

On his way out, he spotted light brown medium length hair, and that stupid blue plaid shirt, although it took Keith a second to recognize him, sure enough, the other person recognized him.

"Keith Kogane. Why are you here? "

" James Griffin? What are _you_ doing here?"

James Griffin had gone to middle school with Keith, and they definitely had a history of getting into fights. It was usually over petty things like seats in class, but it all rooted from when James personally attacked Keith by making fun of his parents' death. Keith has a bad memory when it comes to little things like names and faces, but he could never forget or forgive James Griffin.

" Still emo?" James said with a smug look on his face.

"Still a piece of crap?" Keith shot back.

* * *

Lance made his way out of the Lunchroom to find the counselors office. If he knew anything, it was that he would, without fail, obtain this paint. All he needed to do was find the office, steal the key to the art room, go to the art room, steal the paint, and return to pidge. Sounds easy, right? Totally! If only he had set up any sort of plan.

He edged his way around the building that was deemed the ' _Counselors Office'_ and made his way to the door. Inside, a few desks full of papers, office supplies, and other ordinary things. But, it was empty of people. Lance stepped over to the main desk, searching drawers for the keys. Eventually, he found a ring of keys that was absolutely _filled_ with unlabeled keys. A dreadful sigh escaped his lips, the cause abundantly clear. He had no way of knowing which key was the key to the art room, and his only option was to try them all until he found the one.

After arriving at the door, he began to try all the keys he could. His hands were shaky, and he was clearly nervous.

" Why would they even lock this door!? It's an art room, not a vault!"

Finally, after many tries, he magically opened the door! it gave way, and he quickly dove into the room to find the paint. As he searched the room, his eyes darted towards any green or blue color. After all the effort, it seemed to pay off... he spotted the paint in little glass jars on top of a bookshelf. he grabbed the blue one first and began to reach for the second.

" MIGHT I ASK YOU WHY YOU'RE IN HERE LANCE MCCLAIN?" A loud voice boomed.

"AAAH!" Lance was startled, so he dropped the green paint he had just grabbed, causing it to spill all over his head, which he then dropped the blue one, where it spilled all over his shirt as he fumbled his hands around to try and catch it.

" I'm not doing anything, Sir!" his voice was high pitched and he was obviously lying.

"Ugh, Its only 8 am, and on the first day, too. You're in big trouble, kid. Come on, we're going to the office."

Lance was drenched in green and blue paint, but he still followed Mr. Iverson outside.

Mr. Iverson was grumbling about something that Lance could not hear, but to him, it sounded along the lines of 'too many troublemakers' and 'too early in the morning for all this'. Lance trailed him in bewilderment. Lance has gotten in trouble way too many times to be worried about his mom getting upset at him, so he was actually more concerned about his shirt getting stained and ruined. The paint was still dripping off of him, and oh boy, how would he get this out of his hair?

Mr. Iverson and Lance had entered the main office, which was now full of staff members. Lance was instructed to sit down, and he did, noticing another kid was sitting near him. He was looking at his hands, and he had a big red mark on his face. Lance was staring at him but looked away the second the other kid looked up at him. He avoided looking at the kid until he heard a soft chuckle

"What did you do?"

"What did _you_ do? Run into a tree?"

Another kid stepped outside the counseling office, staring at the other kid with a death glare. He had a bloody nose and an evil glare in his eyes. A lady called the other kids name, which apparently was Keith.

Lance was called up soon after, and he was chewed out by Iverson, but otherwise fine. If he pulled another stunt like this, he would be sent home. Which really was a big problem for Lance. He didn't want to leave.

Lance was prohibited from that day's activities, too. It was just a basic hike, so he didn't care. He went to tell Pidge he failed his mission before he showered, which was a bad choice because he was still covered in paint. He found her getting ready for the hike.

"Hey! Pidge! I failed..I'm sorry.."

She was too busy laughing to be mad at him.

* * *

See you all later! Have a wonderful day! Bye!


End file.
